Chapter 6: 1936-39 and the Second World War

In 1936
the work continued. In that year the leadership of ILKE was: - President –
Father P Parker; Vice-President – Fr. M H Gaffney; Treasurer – J M Rae;
Secretary – E W Ruddell; Secretary of the Irish-language section – D Ó
hEachaidh; other committee members – Fr. John Dawson (President of the Catholic University
School), Lorcán Ó
hUiginn. The classes at the Technical School, Parnell Square, and the
“Easy Reading” column in The Irish Catholic continued.

On 21st January 1936 it was announced that there was “great progress” in Northern
Ireland, especially in Belfast, where a thriving club had been formed.

On 14th February a Grand Dance for Esperantists was held at 31 Parnell Square,
Dublin, organised by the Social Committee under the chairmanship of Mr
Byrne. It lasted from 8pm to 11.30pm; music was provided by the orchestra Atlantic Beach. The entry fee was two shillings.

In March
1936 the Examinations Committee arranged exams. In April William Mullan,
secretary of the Esperanto Group of St Paul’s, Belfast, was elected to the
National Leadership. At the same time a postal Esperanto book service for
members outside Dublin was organised. The subscription was one shilling
per year and members had to pay their own postal costs.

In that
year the Catholic Missionary Organisation of the Legion of Mary made much
use of Esperanto for promoting its message worldwide, and for contacting
indigenous priests in China. It published a beautiful little
multi-coloured prayerbook in Esperanto.

In
October the excellent information column in The Irish Catholic came
to an end, but instead, easy lessons for beginners were started in the
youth section of the paper. These continued until August 1938 when
regrettably they were replaced by French lessons. In all 44 lessons were
published and they induced many young people to learn Esperanto. I myself
first learned the language from those lessons.

In the
years 1937, 1938 and 1939 the Movement continued to thrive. There were
constant meetings, dances, examinations and celebrations. In those years
many Irish Esperantists attended World Esperanto Congresses in Vienna,
Warsaw, London and Berne, where they greeted the participants in the name
of the Irish Esperanto Association. They also attended the Catholic
Congresses and meetings of the Esperanto associations of other countries.

But the
war clouds began to gather over Europe. Already it was not possible to
contact Esperantists in Germany because of
Hitler’s ban, likewise in Spain because of the civil war. Then, on that
sad day the first of September 1939, the Second World War exploded and
almost destroyed the Esperanto movement in Europe. The Historio de
Esperanto by L. Courtinat says:

“The declaration of the world
war in September 1939 halted for six years the progress of the movement
and put off for 60 years the definitive success, that is, compulsory
introduction into schools.”